English Collocations in Use Intermediate Book with Answers How Words Work Together for Fluent and Natural English 2nd Edition

, not get
Turn
often collocates with colours:
The sky 
turned gold as the sun set.
When the tomatoes 
turn red, the farmers pick them and sell them.
The news gave his mother such a shock that her hair 
turned white overnight.
Get
 and become
Get
and 
become
can often be used with the same collocations, but 
become
is more formal and is 
therefore more appropriate in essays:
She gave up smoking when she 
became pregnant.
I would like to 
become involved in raising money for charity. 
The same is true for collocations with adjectives such as 
angry
, 
bored
, 
excited
, 
depressed
, 
upset
, 
impatient
, 
violent
:
He 
became depressed after his wife’s death. 
Become
, not 
get
, is used with the following: 
extinct
, 
(un)popular
, 
homeless
, 
famous
.
Our local baker’s has 
become famous for its apple tarts.
Alternatives to get and become
She 
fell ill and was taken to hospital.
Everyone 
fell silent when they heard the shocking news.
As my father 
grew older, he spent less time working.
The noise 
grew louder and soon we realised it was a plane approaching.
Overusing and misusing get
Here are some sentences from students’ essays where 
get
is wrongly used.
A
B
C
D
E
sentences with 
get
more appropriate alternatives
I was able to get new friends.
I was able to 
make new friends.
A year ago he got a heart attack.
A year ago he 
had/suffered a heart attack.
If I get a child of my own one day ...
If I 
have a child of my own one day ...
I was getting crazy.
I was 
going crazy.
In June, I got a baby, James.
In June, I 
had a baby, James.
Everyday verbs 2
8

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Exercises
21
English Collocations in Use Intermediate
Answer these questions using collocations from A and B. 
1 What can happen to men as they get older? (Clue: Think of their hair.)
2 What can happen if you are embarrassed? (Clue: Think of your face.)
3 What can happen if you get bad news? (Clue: Think of your face or hair.)
4 What can happen to the pages of a newspaper after a long time?
5 What happens to strawberries as they ripen?
6 The poet John Milton lost his eyesight at the end of his life. What is another way of
saying that? 
7 The composer Beethoven lost his hearing at the end of his life. What is another way
of saying that?
8 At the end of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet loses his mind. What is another way of
saying that?
9 If it is about to rain, what might happen to the sky?
Look at C, D and E opposite. Correct these sentences. 
1 Dinosaurs got extinct thousands of years ago.
2 When I get married, I’d like to get lots of children.
3 Jasmine fell depressed after failing her final exams.
4 Niklas has always dreamt of getting famous.
5 Would you be interested in growing involved in this project?
6 More people have got homeless this year than in any previous year.
7 My sister got a baby last week.
8 My grandfather got a heart attack last winter.